Getting
back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give
their elderly mother.

The
first said, "I built a big house for our mother."

The
second said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver."

The
third smiled and said, "I've got you both beat. You know how
Mom
enjoys the Bible, and you know she can't see very well. I sent her
a
parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took 20 monks in a monastery
12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $100,000 a
year for
10 years, but it was worth it. Mom just has to name the chapter
and
verse, and the parrot will recite it."

Soon
thereafter, Mom sent out her letters of thanks:

Milton,"
she wrote the first son, "The house you built is so huge. I
live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house."

"Marvin,"
she wrote to the second son, "I'm too old to travel. I stay
home all the time, so I never use the Mercedes. And the driver is
so
rude!"

"My
Dearest Melvin," she wrote to her third son, "You were
the only son
to have the good sense to know what your Mother likes. That chicken
was
delicious!"